Cisco says failure to adopt Euro will hit business

William Hague not a factor in Netzilla's view

Common Topics

The UK Conservative Party may not have heard of Cisco, but if so, perhaps it should give the company a ring. With a market capitalisation of something like $250 billion, and an acquisitive maw that makes Moby Dick's mouth look like a minnow, it is the nearest thing to a Great Satan of Networks there is on the planet. And perhaps William Hague, the UK Conservative Party leader, who we know is big on the Internet and all things techie, might care to consider that Cisco routers are essentially running the World Wide Web, ergo e-commerce too. Colin Watts, business development manager of Cisco Europe, is the man with the money bags who goes round snapping up interesting little European companies and adding them to his company's rather extensive portfolio. And Watts believes that harmonisation of both currency and tax laws is essential if Europe is to become the business powerhouse it could be. At the opening of a science park in Belgium last week,Watts said the unwillingness of countries to pull behind the Euro and tax harmonisation meant that the continent was lagging behind on the e-commerce front. Hague, and quite a chunk of the Conservative Party, however, believe that the £ is inviolate. So perhaps Cisco and the Tories should talk. The Tory Party, after all, is traditionally supposed to be right behind business... ®